Road Transport V/s Rail Transport

Sr. No.	Basis of Difference	Road Transport	Rail Transport
1.	Speed	Road transport has limited speed due to bad road conditions, accidents, etc.	It has considerable speed since it runs on tracks which rarely get disturbed.
2.	carrying capacity	It has limited carrying capacity.	It has huge carrying capacity.
3.	Cost of construction and maint’ce`	It requires limited capital investment in terms of construction of road, vehicles and their maintenance.	The cost of construction of trains, railway tracks is high. Also the maintenance of trains, tracks and stations is high.
4.	Distance	Recommended for short distance.	Recommended for both short and long distance.
5.	Transport charges	Transport charges are not fixed but are high due to increased fuel prices.	Transport charges are relatively low and are fixed according to the distance.
6.	Door to door service	It provides door to door service.	It does not provide door to door service.
7.	Means of transport	It uses animal’s carts, motor-cycles three and four wheelers.	It uses passenger and goods train.
8.	Ownership	Ownership is in the hands of private parties.	Ownership is in the hands of the government.
9.	Safety	It provides limited safety to goods from sun, rain, wind, etc.	Goods are kept in locked wagons which provides protection against sun, wind, rain etc.